California Coast Cruise (2014)

Prolog

March 21^st is Tova’s birthday and we were planning to take this short cruise around the California Coast.  It seemed like nothing more than a fun way to immerse ourselves in our home state.

We called our friend Liki Abrams, who lives in the Bay area and decided to meet on March 25^th in S.F.

A couple of weeks earlier our son Odie called and let me know that he would like to fly over here from Texas to surprise his mother on her birthday.  He also called our daughter Sharone and they decided that they will both arrive on Wednesday, March 19^th and will wait for Tova at our home.

Odie and Sharone arrived as scheduled and Tova was overwhelmed when she saw both of them waiting for her.  What we did was that as soon as Tova opened the garage door, Odie went outside, from the main door.  Tova saw Sharone and thought it was quite a nice surprise when Sharone had told her that she is here to take her out for dinner, to celebrate her birthday.  Then the door bell rang and Tova opened the door and almost fainted when she saw Odie standing there with a bouquet of flower.

We went to Fish in a Bottle, Tova’s favorite Sushi restaurant and had a wonderful time.

With our luggage packed we said good night to Odie and added: “Let’s sail away”

Day 1 – March 21^st, 2014

We woke up and Odie took us to Los Angeles port to our cruise ship, The Celebrity Century.  After a long and tiring check up process we embarked the ship and found our cabin# 1108.  We had lunch and then rested for the rest of the afternoon.

After the Emergency Lifeboat Drill, at around 4:00 PM, the ship started the voyage and I went to the top deck to take some pictures.





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We had our first dinner at the main dining room and were joined by three other couples from Texas, Minnesota, and Washington.  We all sang Happy Birthday to my lovely wife and it was quite memorable.

The show tonight featured a ventriloquist by the name of Brad Cummings.  He was excellent and we enjoyed his show a lot.

Day 2 – March 22^nd, 2014

 The ship arrived to Santa Barbara at 7:00 AM. 

Our ship was too large to pull up the dock, so we used tender boats to shuttle to and from the shore.

We disembarked the tender and strolled along the well maintained main street.

We arrived to the Old Court House, evidence to the city rich history.  The main entrance to the courthouse features a large façade depicting two enthroned figures; between the figures is an inscription in Spanish reading:  Dios nos dio los campos, which roughly translates to: God gave us fields [But] the skill of man built cities. 

This magnificent Spanish-Moorish "palace" was built in 1929 and is surrounded by lawns and a sunken tropical garden that plays host to many functions throughout the year.  The architecture of this building is quite beautiful and all the details are well thought out.  Hand-painted ceilings, wrought iron chandeliers, giant murals, imported tiles give this relatively new building an ancient feel. 

We actually a fully functional court room where lawyers and judges actually handle judicial business!  We saw some guests who were waiting for a wedding to take place this afternoon.

Of course, no trip to the courthouse would be complete without an ascent to the tower, which offers 360° views of the city, mountains, and the ocean. 

     

We spent a couple of hours in the magnificent building and then walked around the main street of the downtown area.

     





At one point we bumped into Brad Cummings and chatted with him for awhile.








 


At around 4:00 we returned to the ship and got ready for the evening activities.  

The entertainer for tonight was Lovena Fox, who is an actress and a singer.  She entertained us with Broadway songs.  She was terrific.

Day 3 – March 23^rd, 2014

Day at sea!!

At last we have some time to relax!!

We met today a nice couple from Gardena, California: Mimi and Alex.
  

All dressed up in our formal attire we went to the dining room and after dinner we joined the crowd into the theater to be part of the Captain’s Welcome Gala Toast and enjoyed the ship performers in “Touch of Broadway”.

     

Later on we went back to the theater, for the night show,  to watch Brad Cummings, who asked me to come and take part of his show.  It was so funny when he asked me to not say a word but just move my lips and he did the talking for me…

Day 4 – March 24^th, 2014

I woke up early to witness our ship entering the port of San Francisco.  At around 6:30 we were under the Golden Gate, the official welcome to the city by the bay and the sight was something else.  We then saw Alcatraz Island, Coit Tower, Bay Bridge the Wharf and the beautiful city.

            

I returned to the cabin and together we had breakfast and afterwards we disembarked the ship, which was docked just steps away from Fisherman’s Wharf.

We walked along the Embarcadero and bumped into friends from the ship at Pier 39.  There we visited the Sea Lions.  There are many of them on the pier.

Since Tova & I are frequent visitors in San Francisco I became the group’s guide and we visited Fisherman’s Wharf and Ghirardelli Square.  We had a wonderful time!

     

We returned to the ship at around 4:00 and after dinner we listened to Rob Ondras, a great singer and a nice guy who covered Jimmy Buffett, Neil Diamond, Gordon Lightfoot, Roger Miller, Kenny Chesney, and Jerry Jeff Walker... and did them all well.

When we returned to our cabin we walked out to our balcony and were mesmerized by the beautiful views of the city at night.

  

Day 5 – March 25^th, 2014

After breakfast we contacted Liki, who was already on her way to the port to meet us.

We disembarked at around 9:00 and met Liki, who was running towards us when we spotted each other.  We haven’t seen Liki for a couple of years and the reunion was very emotional.

 


We found a great Café, called Gastronomia Café and had a wonderful time chatting and gossiping.

We walked along the Embarcadero and found the famous Marketplace at Pier 1.  The San Francisco Ferry Building Farmers Market features dozens of vendors of the freshest fruit, produce, baked goods, cheeses and prepared foods in town. Vendors include Stone free for organic greens and some vendors featured organic jams, almonds and cherries.

We then strolled along, as rain has started and embarked our ship.

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After dinner we went to the theater to watch A.J. Jamal, who continues to be the most popular and sought after comedian on the cruise line circuit.  A.J. was recently voted "2013 Funniest Cruise line Comic," by the prestigious Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.  The guy was a natural FUNNY and we rolled on the floor laughing to his jokes.

Day 6 – March 26^th, 2014

When we woke up the ship already was docked in Monterey.

We had breakfast and prayed that the rain will stop.  It didn’t!

From our balcony we witnessed hundreds of Sea Lions giving us an acrobatic performance as they were greeting us.

       

We disembarked, once again with a tender boat, and after a short walk decided to return to the ship as the rain started to get heavy.

We rested the rest of the afternoon and then dressed formally for dinner.

Tonight’s performance was “Century Rocks” performed by the ship’s singers and dancers.

We later enjoyed the “Newly-Weds, Not-So-Newlyweds Game show” and had a terrific time.

  

Day 7 – March 27^th, 2014

We arrived to Catalina Island where our anchors amid much smaller vessels gathered in Avalon Harbor, and sneaked in to the queue to wait for the next tender to take us to shore.  We later found out that if we would play by the book and wait for our turn we would have arrive to the shore 5 hours later.

       

Once we landed on the island we toured the main street for 3 hours, including the famous Casino building.  We learned of its history of the island and then returned to the ship, once again with a tender.

       

After dinner we enjoyed watching in the theater the “Variety Show” featuring Lovena Fox and AJ Jamal.  We then went to the Crystal Room and watched the Motown Interactive Theme Party.

Day 8 – March 28^th, 2014

We woke up as the ship was entering Ensenada, Mexico.  Yes, we are cruising California, but Ensenada is in Baja California, so it counts!  Plus, it’s almost legally required: Maritime laws says any cruise ship not registered in the U.S – and practically none are – must stop in a non-U.S. port somewhere in the itinerary.

We have been here before and will do the same things we always do.



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We took the five-minute shuttle bus to the heart of town and walked by the souvenir shops along Avenida Lopez Mateos.  We met Mimi and Alex and together walked in the market area and bought a couple of leather items.  We also visited Papas and Beer, which was full with visitors, mostly young.

  

After visiting the Internet café ($1 for an hour including coffee!!) we returned to the ship and started to pack our belonging as tomorrow we were scheduled to return to the L.A. port.

After dinner we had a great time watching the “Dance around the World” show, where the Celebrity Cast took us on a musical and choreographed trip around the world.  With over 130 beautiful costumes, amazing music and stunning aerial/adagio.

Day 9 – March 29^th, 2014

We disembarked the ship at around 10:00 and our friends David & Debbie arrived to pick us up.

We arrived home at around 12:00.

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